The present invention relates to a method of making a pneumatic tire, more particularly to a process of sticking the tread rubber edge on the underlying tire component.
In general, a pneumatic tire is provided with a tread reinforcing belt BT as shown in FIG. 1, and a tread rubber RT is disposed radially outside the belt BT.
Recently, on the other hand, pneumatic tires having round shoulders are widely used in passenger cars and the like. In such a tire, accordingly, the difference between the diameter at the tread rubber edges and that in the center is more than a little. Therefore, during construction of a green tire, when the edge of the tread rubber RT is pushed down to stick it on the underlying tire component, the edge is very likely wrinkled as shown in FIG. 6. As a result, the uniformity of the finished tire such as RFV and RRO is liable to deteriorate.